


Gratification

by anr



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-03-30
Updated: 2004-03-30
Packaged: 2017-11-05 16:12:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/408414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anr/pseuds/anr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's all about the smell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gratification

**Author's Note:**

> _North Star_ (3x09)

The smell really is quite offensive.

Thick and pervasive, it hangs in the air with every step the beast takes. Filling her lungs with the less than tolerable odours of equine, hay, dung and other things she'd really prefer not to define.

The Commander, of course, remains unaffected.

"Didn't you take one of them nasal inhibitors before you left Enterprise?"

She is not gritting her teeth. Really she isn't. "Yes."

"Not helpin', huh?"

"No."

Staring at the back of his head (and does he _have_ to wear that hat? she's sure to have a bruise on her forehead before long), she contemplates walking.

Again.

"Wouldn't recommend it. In those shoes, in that dress, you'd only exhaust yourself and end up with blisters. Then you'd be right back up here feelin' even sorrier for yourself."

Damn his amusement. Damn his logic. Damn his knowing her thoughts so well (an aberration, surely). And damn the way his thighs feel rocking against hers with every rise and fall of the beast's gait.

(Damn herself too, for wanting to damn in the first place.)

Exhaling measuredly (don't inhale, don't inhale, don't inhale), she closes her eyes and strives for patience. For calm. For no olfactory glands.

"Are we there yet?"

  


* * *

  


"Why are we stopping?"

Half-turned in the saddle, his arm crooked so that she may use it to dismount more easily, he raises an eyebrow.

"Water, shade... you'd prefer we stop elsewhere?"

"The Skagaran settlement is still one-point-three miles away."

The Commander gives her that look. That and-here-I-was-thinkin'-you-were-the-logical-one look. She dislikes that look. A lot. Ignoring his arm, she slides off the beast on her own volition and watches him also dismount before leading the animal to the creek.

"We should continue on," she says, watching him pet it as it drinks. "We're only--"

Hooking the reigns over a log on the small shore, the Commander heads towards one of the nearby trees and sinks to the ground in front of it. "Hours yet 'til sunset, Sub Commander." She watches him tilt his hat forward before leaning back against the trunk. "We'll wait it out here."

She can't see his face anymore, the large brim covering his features. Interesting how that should annoy her. "The Captain--"

"Asked us to be discreet. We'll head in when it's dark."

Logic again. She glances up at the sky, at the sun hovering directly above. Her arms have crossed and she quickly unfolds them.

He shifts a little on the ground.

"What are you doing?"

"Restin'." A hand moves to lift the brim of his hat, the other to pat the dirt beside him. "Interested?"

Damn him and his amused expression to Bogozh. Holding his gaze, she walks towards him slowly... and then seats herself a couple of feet away. The minute changes in his expression when she pulls out her PADD are somewhat gratifying.

"Suit yourself." Releasing his hat, he folds his arms across his chest and relaxes against the trunk. "You can keep an eye out for the sun vipers."

  


* * *

  


She watches him sleep.

It's gratifying in a completely different way.

  


* * *

  


"Y'know, horses have a far more acute sense of smell than humans."

She doesn't reply. His low murmur is loud enough as they approach the settlement. The beast, thankfully, was left behind some minutes ago.

"It's one of their lead senses. They use it for selectin' food, recognisin' predators--they can smell fear too. Pretty impressive, if you ask me."

She studies her PADD and changes direction slightly. Tucker follows.

"Some people have even theorised that horses can use their sense of smell to find their way home... and then there's the whole sexual behaviour aspect of it--"

She halts suddenly, the Commander bumping into her. His hands land on her waist, fingers framing her hips. She tells herself not to notice.

"There," she whispers instead, pointing, and together they crouch in the brush.

"Is that a... ship?"

She takes a further reading with her PADD.

"I'd estimate this vessel has been here for at least two centuries."

  


* * *

  


She stores the data modules in the folds of her skirt and retrieves her PADD. Just as she'd thought, Commander Tucker is veering off-course.

"The shuttlepod is in this direction," she says.

He doesn't even look back at her. "Horse is this way."

She stops walking. He doesn't. "The Captain ordered us to return to the Enterprise."

"And I promised I'd return the horse." He glances back at her. "Won't take long."

  


* * *

  


The beast has wandered during their surveys of the settlement and it takes them awhile to locate it again. The Commander curses softly under his breath as he trips over another fallen tree branch.

"We cannot ride like this," she says reluctantly, watching as he approaches the animal and retrieves the reigns.

"You don't like my drivin'?"

"In the dark, the chances of it stumbling are greatly increased. We could be injured."

He sighs loudly and looks around. "Thought you wanted out of this place?"

"I would prefer it without bodily harm."

  


* * *

  


Settled on the ground once more, the Commander holds out his hand. "I'll get to work on those data modules if you want to sleep. See if I can't reconfigure your PADD."

"You aren't tired?"

"Slept earlier, remember?" He pats the ground suggestively. "Sun-up's not for a few hours..."

She has a worse idea.

Walking towards him, she sinks to his side and lies down.

"Sub Commander?"

The ground is uncomfortable. She inches closer until her body can touch his, until her head can rest on his chest. He is not.

"T'Pol?"

"Quiet."

  


* * *

  


She doesn't sleep.

  


* * *

  


Though it's still dark when they arise, she can tell dawn's not far away. She watches him mount and hold out his arm again; critically examines his seating and the beast itself. Making a decision, she urges his foot from the stirrup and, using that and his body, climbs up. His right arm is a reassuring presence against her back, his left thigh warm beneath her legs.

"Sidesaddle, huh?" he asks, voice just a little unsteady. She attributes it to the fading coolness in the air.

"The smell is less... pungent... in this position."

"Right."

With a soft snap of the reigns, the animal begins to move. The momentum rocks her closer to him and she submits without protest, curving her body into his. Her head rests on his collarbone, face turned into his neck. The hat doesn't bother her so much now.

As her eyes drift shut, she breathes him in.

Most gratifying indeed. 

  


* * *

The End

**Author's Note:**

> ORIGINAL URL: <http://anr.livejournal.com/121883.html>


End file.
